Please help me welcome Ann Everett with a fantastic article about Kindle Scout, which I was anxious to read myself. I don’t fully understand the process, so it is great to hear from someone with experience. (I was supposed to post this on Sunday and did not, so I am posting it in place of my Tuesday Two-Minute Tip blog, which will return next Tuesday)

Take it away, Ann…

IS KINDLE SCOUT RIGHT FOR YOU??

Back in 2014, when I decided to leave the small press publisher I was with, I never thought I’d consider signing another publishing contract. Well…never say never!

For my latest book, a new adult romance, I decided to submit to Kindle Scout for consideration. For those of you unfamiliar with the program, here is a brief run-down.

It is for new, never-before-published books, at least 50,000 words.

Readers help decide if a book gets published.

If selected, the book will be published by Kindle Press and receive a $1500 advance.

Go to their site where you will agree to a 45 day commitment/campaign, then upload your entire manuscript, cover, along with a limited word count blurb, tag line, and bio. You’ll also choose three questions to answer from a list provided and add a thank-you note to those who nominate your book. KS will send those for you.

Once all of that is submitted, KS will review, then your campaign will go live. You will have 30 days for readers to “nominate” your book. They will also get to read the first 5000 words of your story.

You’ll be able to see how many nominations you’re getting each day and if your book is making it into the Hot and Trending section.

At the end of that period, the Scouts will notify you within the following 15 days if your book has been chosen.

I wish I could give you a formula for success, but honestly, there is no way to tell what has the most influence on selection. Before I submitted, I researched KS articles, and even reached out to one winner who had a lot in common with me. She already had several books published, and she wrote romance. She had many positive things to say about the program which convinced me to go forward with it.

WHAT I DID TO GET NOMINATIONS

Sent personal emails to my mailing lists, classmate list, beta readers, critique partners, basically everyone I could think of! I sent about 600.

Did a targeted paid FB promotion for $10. It went out to about 450 people.

Put a request on Google+ and Linked In, two times.

Posted on Twitter once a week for the 4 weeks.

Did just a regular post on FB once a week for 4 weeks.

In my research, I found one author who had gotten 2400 nominations, which would have put her in Hot and Trending for most of her campaign, but she still didn’t get chosen! So, clearly, it isn’t just about getting votes.

Here are the three things I focused on:

Well written story

Good editing

Eye-catching cover

I received 967 nominations and stayed in Hot and Trending about 35% of my campaign which ran from November 27-December 27. On January 3, I was notified that Chirp had been selected!!

For their effort, all those readers who nominated Chirp, will receive a free digital copy of the book when it is published from Kindle Scout.

My main purpose for submitting to the Scout program was the marketing they do for their books. As an Indie author, I spend a huge amount of time promoting my work. So the promise of someone doing that for me, certainly got my interest. From everything I’ve read, KS keeps that promise. They promote through Kindle Countdowns, both in the US and other countries, and use outside promotional sites such as BookBub, and utilize all the marketing features of Amazon. On top of all that, they furnish editing. Hopefully, my book won’t need much since I’ve had it edited, but we’ll see.

I’m currently in the honeymoon stage of the process, just about to be carried over the threshold, so six months into it, I’ll have more information of how things have gone for me. Hopefully, I’ll still be happy with my decision.

Award winning and Amazon Best-Selling author, Ann Everett embraces her small town upbringing and thinks Texans are some of the funniest people on earth. When speaking at conferences and to writing groups, businesses, book clubs, and non-profit organizations, she incorporates her special brand of wit, making her programs on marketing, self-publishing, and the benefits of laughter, informative and fun.

Her short stories have appeared in The Green Silk Journal, Snag Today, and Story Teller Magazine.

A top reviewer on thenextbigwriter.com, she lives on a small lake in Northeast Texas where she writes, bakes, and fights her addiction to Diet Dr. Peppers.

She’s been featured on:

Proud of East Texas with Joan Hallmark, KLTV-TV, Tyler, Texas

East Texas Live and Mid-day, KETK-TV, Tyler, Texas

KTSS-TV, Hope, Arkansas

The Authors Show with Don McCauley, Internet radio show

The Chandler & Brownsboro Statesman, Chandler, Texas

The Daily Tribune, Mt. Pleasant, Texas

Tyler Morning Telegraph, Tyler, Texas

InMagazine, East Texas

Ten things you won’t know about Ann by reading her bio:

She’s been married to her high school sweetheart.

She loves shopping at thrift stores.

She doesn’t remember her first kiss.

She hates talking on the telephone.

A really sharp pencil makes her happy.

She secretly wants to get a tattoo.

A charter member of National Honor Society in high school remains one of her proudest moments.

Thank you so much Ann- I feel I have more of a grasp on Kindle Scout now. Congratulations for getting Chirp accepted – you must be thrilled 😁A quick question- when you say you have to sign a contract for 5 years is that worldwide rights to the published book or is it everything i.e. Audio book, movie rights etc? Good luck with Chirp.

ebook and audio. However, if they don’t make an audio version within two years, those rights revert back to you. So far, they have made no audio books. Also, if your book doesn’t earn $25,000 during the five year contract, you have the option to take those rights back, as well.
Thanks so much.
~Ann

I will try to blog again when I have some results. I understand they don’t start promotions until the book has been out for 90 days, so it will be a while since I don’t have a release date yet. Thanks for taking time to comment. ~Ann

Hi Ann. I loved reading your experience with Kindle Scout. I read the first 5000 words of Chirp and thought your opening scenes were really good – I loved the fact it was set in a funeral home. I just wanted to clarify one thing for your readers – the number quoted as the number of nominations received is actually the number of page views the Kindle Scout webpage for your book received. (you can confirm this by checking on the Kindle Scout webpage). Kindle Scout does not reveal the number of nominations each book receives (not even to the author!), but they do provide statistics for the author on the numbers of webpage views your book on the Kindle Scout website has received, and the number of hours it has been in the Hot and Trending list There’s much debate and speculation about what gets a book onto Hot and Trending (nominations likely are a factor), but as I think you stated, even then the hours on Hot and Trending do not seem to correlate with whether or not a book is chosen. From everything I’ve read, having a well-written, engaging book seems the most important factor in scoring a publishing deal with Kindle Scout. Anyway, I just wanted to clarify that point about nominations versus page views. Thanks for the info, and I am looking forward to the release of Chirp. Congratulations! I only hope I can be as fortunate. Kindest regards, Evie Blix

Thank you, Evie! Do you pronounce your name as E-V, or does it rhyme with Chevy? I have a granddaughter named Evie, but it is pronounced as rhyming with Chevy!! It’s an old name in my family.
Thanks for setting me straight about the page views vs. nominations. Everything I read in my research never pointed that out. They all referred to their numbers as nominations.
As for how a book is chosen, I think it also has to do with how hot each market is. If KS has chosen X amount of thrillers, and only X% performed well, then they may consider that when choosing their next winners. YA and NA are pretty hot right now, and that’s another reason I decided to submit Chirp. It is only my second NA book, but because that market is gaining readership at a fast pace, I thought the chances for it being chosen were better. This is just my opinion because I have nothing to go on that suggests that might be the case.
Since it is my first experience with KS, I still have much to learn. I’m anxious to see how Chirp fairs against my other books in terms of sales. My other NA, Tell Me a Secret has performed beyond my wildest expectations, so Chirp has some big shoes to fill. If it does half as well, I’ll be happy.
Other than the marketing aspect, I am hoping to increase reviews. Even though TMAS has sold thousands of books, and close to half-million pages read in one month, that has not converted to reviews…which is disappointing. I still struggle to find the formula to get those!! Maybe someday I’ll figure it out. If I ever do, I’m going to sell the formula and become a gazillionaire!
Thanks again for your insight and taking time to comment.
~Ann